two of the largest shipping ports in the united states are mostly closed. the strike now in its eighth day, affects us all. as nearly 40% of imports flowing into the country are bottlenecking. the ports of los angeles and long beach, california, bring in a lot of hot ticket items that americans buy over the holidays including electronics, clothing and furniture. the national retail federation is urging president obama to step in and end the strike. in a letter to the president, the nrf says, quote, the shutdown is already having a significant negative economic impact on retailers, trying to bring in merchandise for their final push for the holiday sales and will soon have an impact on consumers. now, while i agree the strike will affect consumers eventually, we found that most of the stuff you'll purchase in time to give as gifts for the holiday already passed through the ports between august and september. don't worry about christmas. worry about next year if this strike goes on. as i told you yesterday, the republican counterproposal for heading off the f